Old Roadtrek DIESEL?

seems like a huge chunk of cash for a 23 year old rv, and 185k. me.. I,D pass. might do a nada check for its value.

Have you looked on rv.trader? You can do an advanced search by type (class B), price (under 10,000) and see what you get. I think you can beat that deal.

The 6.5 could be made into a good engine but the stock version had some inherent problems. Read up on it on some of the 6.2-6.5 forums.
They have a near cult following. I had a 6.2 in a B late 80s. I put 150K on it but it needed two injector pumps, two vacuum pumps and belts every time you turned around.

HI,

My work bought about 35 of the older 6.2L diesels and they where basically junk. The 6.5L was a upgrade, but still not a 'great' engine. At 100,000 - 125,000 miles the 6.2L needed to have a engine rebuild, and have the heads replaced due to cracks in the heads.

I would stay away from the 6.5L just because of the diesel engines.

This owner things that the 6.5L makes his 20 something old van worth a lot more than any gas engine van of the same year. I would rather have the much more reliable 7.3L Ford diesel, or the gas engines.

I am not even sure that the 6.5L had a factory turbo, and if it does not, do not expect it to be over 175 HP. Basically it will not get out of it's own way without the factory turbo.

Personally I would not consider a GM diesel until they upgraded to the Isuzu design inspired 6.6L Duramax. The Ford E-350 diesel I would need to check the empty curb weight. If the curb weight is say 8,500 pounds and GVWR is 9,300 pounds, I would also find that un-acceptable. The diesel engine is really heavy, and a lot of weight to move around. The van you are looking at is also probably very heavy, and might not have much cargo rating.

What good is a 8,500 pound van with a 9,300 pound GVWR? You can carry almost no luggage, and 2 people?

Fred.

My Neighbor had a couple of the 6.2's, one in a 3/4 ton, the other in a suburban.
He is a motor head and makes his living with cars.
His main reason for the 6.2's at the time was fuel cost- which is less an advantage it seems, with gas motor getting pretty good mpg- and gas cheaper than diesel.
The other reason ( and don;t tell the kids), is that he didn;t want his teens to drive something that would go 0~60 is under 12 seconds.

While the motors held up well and always performed, It seems like every couple of months the alternator or starter was being replaced. The cost was zero as all the replacements had the autozone warranty, but Mike had to stay on top of this stuff.
These services were so frequent that he put quick disconnects on his batteries.

both of those vehicles are gone now- he is much happier with his 2007 silverado 3/4 ton as a tow vehicle. it gets good fuel economy.

for comparo ,my chev based van with 6.0 gets 15 MPG at 70 ish mph

Mike

Markopolo on the classbforums.com has a 97 6.5 GMC. He could answer your questions.

I would ask my local Chevy service department about that drivetrain then I would call another to see what they say. If the rest of the van in good shape then it might be an ok deal. Does it have a generator? At that price it should but probably propane.

I believe Roadtrek stopped using the diesel for the Chevy RT's in the mid 1990's because of the diesels heavy weight which resulted in a small CCC (cargo carrying capacity).

That power plant came with an early version of the 4L80 trans. I had a coulee of k5 blazers during the 99's. One had 360k on the same 6.2L engine. Injector pumps go about 100k, we're about 500 bux rebuilt right. The 6.5L had a turbo. Injection pumps had issues with the electronic controller overheating. An aftermarket solution moved the controller to the firewall, lasted longer. If you overheated em a back cylinder may develop a crack. Taken care of its a 300 motor. Most werent. Regardless of engine you are buying a run out van engine and trans, rear end for 9k!4k, 5k? Maybe take a chance

Really loud/noisy because they sit right next to you in the dog house. I doubt you could hear yourself talk.

As Kevin O'leary of Shark Tank fame would say " I Forbid You" to buy a vehicle with that engine regardless of price. Seriously, to call that engine a piece of junk would be a compliment and an understatement for the ages. They are weak, unreliable and costly to maintain. God had to be smiling on the current owner for him to get 185k miles.